Tire yarn beam



Sept. 20, 1960 w. v. HENRY TIRE YARN BEAM 'Filed March 8, 1957 FIG. ,l

E l i INVENTOR.

WILLIAM V. HENRY BY M] (HD States Patent() 2,953,316 TIRE YARN BEAMWilliam V. Henry, Asheville, N.C., assignor to American EnkaCorporation, Erika, N.C., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. s, 1957,ser. No. 644,923 s. Claims. (Cl. 24a-118.7)

This invention relates generally to beams, drums, spools or the like,hereinafter referred to as'beams, for receiving yarn, wire or otherstrip material ofiindeinite length and more particularly to tire yarnbeams provided with flanges or heads, hereinafter referredto as flanges,on the respective ends thereof.

'Tire yarn beams in commercial use in the viscose rayon industry at thepresent generally comprisev af wooden cylindrical portion, called thebarrel, onfwhich is shipped from the placevofmanufacture to thecustomerl for ultimate use. Upon removal of the yarn therefrom, the beamusually is returned empty to the yarn manufacturer for the Vstorageoffaddi'tional yarn and lfor subsequent reshipment. Y f Y l The flangeson commercially available` tire yarn beams usually are of a diameterabout "twice that of the barijel portion and therefore requireconsiderablymore shipping space than rwouldV be required'merely for ythebarrelvprfl tions. It not being economically feasible or practical todisassemble the empty beams-for eachreturn shipment, they usually arestacked in ya staggeredvrelationship with the flanges `of adjacent beamsoverlapping one another.` In this manner it is possible to ship thegreatest number of empty beams in the least amount Yof space.

While this method of shipment affords the `obvious advantage of areduction in shipping cost commensurate with the reduction in shippingspace per beam, a concomitant disadvantage is that the flanges of anyone beam bear directly against the yarn receiving outer surface of thebarrel portion of adjacent beams. Since considerable vibration andbouncing of beams inherently occurs during shipment and inasmuch as anaverage tire yarn beam weighs on the order of 250 lbs. even when empty,it can readily be seen that a pounding force exists continuously betweenthe metallic rim of any one beam and the wooden barrel of adjacentbeams. It has been found that repeated shipment of empty tire yarn beamsaccording to the above described method results in chipping androughening of the outer surface of the barrels at the remote endsthereof and in extreme cases actually results in breaking through of thebarrel at these sections. Since the barrel surface must be smooththroughout in order not to injure the yarn wound thereon, it has beennecessary in the past to provide a maintenance crew for continuallyrepairing time yarn beams damaged during shipment in this manner.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a shipping beamnot subject to the aforementioned disadvantage of known beams.

n' section, showing a tirek yarn. beam 'constructed according Anotherobject of this invention is to provide a tire yarn beam which can beused repeatedly for shipping purposes without maintenance. Y

A furthe object of this invention is to provide tire yarn beams withresilient sleeves located in stragetic sections;

along the surface of the beam barrel to bear the loadof adjacent beamswhen shipped empty in a conventional stacked relationship.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a tire yarnbeam having protected or reinforced barrelk end surfaces which can beused for yarn collection Without damage to the product stored thereon.

These and further objects and advantages will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art upon study of the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Y' Figurel is anendview showing a'plurality oflempt tire yarn beams stacked inconventionaloverlappingrelal tionship for shipment; and Y Figure 2 is alongitudinal elevational View, partially in to the present invention. r

In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a tubularsleeve of Vresilient material is mounted in the outer surface of thebeambarrel closely adjacent to the beam flange.

at each end'of the barrel with the'outer surface 'thereof e Preferably,a sleeve is mounted being Ailush or coextensive with the outer surfaceof the barrel, so as to form an unbroken-yarn receiving surfacevextending Ithe entire length between flanges.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure lshows a plural-V ity of emptytire yarn beams 10 resting on the surface 11 of any suitable vehicle(not shown) i which might be used for tranpsort'mg these beams from-oneplace of use to another. As mentioned hereinabove, the accepted mode ofgrouping empty beams forv shipment is in a stackedrelationship with ,theflanges ofv one .beam overlapping those of adjacent beams, and so forth,in order to con servev space. As the beams generally are substantiallythe same in dimensions, -it can .be seenthat -one flange of l the rstbeam rests against the barrel Vof the second beam,

ported by another row of beams, as shown in this ligure.v

-Withparticular attention directed to Figure 2 of the drawings, Aapreferredembodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed. v Thetire yar'n beam indicated generally -by reference numeral 10 comprises ia cylindrical wooden barrel 12 and a wooden flange 13, which extendsnormal to the longitudinal axis of the barrel, at each end thereof. Theflanges are secured in position by a plurality of tie rods 14, only twoof which have been shown, and have secured to the peripheral edgesthereof metallic rims 15, which protect these outer edges from damageduring handling. In order to distribute the tensional force exerted onthe flanges by tie rods 14, reinforcing end plates 16 may be mountedbetween the flanges and tie rod bolts 17, as shown, and circular webs 18of suitable material such as wood and of a suitable diameter areinserted within the tubular barrel in order to strengthen the sameagainst collapse due to yarn shrinkage. These wooden Webs may be securedto the barrel 12 by screws, nails or any other suitable means (notshown). A beam shaft 20 extends axially of the beam 10 and is secured inposition by bolts 21. Shaft 20 passes through suitable aperturesprovided in webs l181, flanges 13 and end plates `16 and serves as asupport for the beam during winding and unwinding and also as anexpedient for lifting the same during handling.

A peripheral recess Z2 is cut or otherwise formed in each end of barrel12. Within each recess there is Patented'Sept. 20, 1960 inserted aresilient tubular sleeve 23 of such thickness to completely fill therecess. As stated hereinbefore, the outer surfaces of the sleeves shouldbe coextensive with the surface of the barrel so that injury to the yarnwill not occur as a result of the interruptions in the barrel surface.It is preferred that the width of the sleeve be slightly greater thanthe Width of the recess in order that tightening of the anges by the tierods will completely close the space between the sleeves and barrel.Moreover, in the preferred embodiment, the inner diameter of theresilient sleeve is slightly less than the diameter of the recess,whereupon the `sleeve must` be stretched to fit within the recess, whichensures a snug fit without the use of adhesive or other securing means.

As an illustration of a specific application of the present invention, atire yarn beam having maple anges of approximately 30 diameter, on which16 gauge sheet iron rims had been mounted, yand having a white pinebarrel portion 54" in length and 111/2 in diameter, was disassembled andmodied by cutting a peripheral recess in each end of the barrel. Eachrecess was approximately 1A" in depth and 85/16" in width. Within eachof these recesses was mounted a tubular sleeve of soft rubber having athickness of about Mi, a width of 8% and an inner diameter ofapproximately 101/2". These sleeves were stretched in order to fitWithin the recess and protruded slightly over respective ends of thebarrel. Upon reassembly of the beam and drawing in of the flanges bytightening the tie rod bolts, the sleeves completely filled therecesses, leaving no crevices into which yarn could accumulate. It hasbeen found that `a resilient material, such as soft rubber, having adurometer hardness of between 50 and 60 on Shore scale A works verysatisfactorily to overcome the problem discussed herein.

Due to the fact that, during shipment, the overlapped anges of adjacentbeams rest very close to the respective barrel ends, chipping and/ orbreaking has been found to occur within a range of 8 to 10" measuredaxially from the barrel ends. The 8%" sleeve discussed above representsa standard size resilient tube which has been found to be sufhcientlyWide to accommodate the anges of three adjacent beams (see Figure 1) andprotect the barrel against injury thereby. Obviously, Wider sleevescould be used if found to be desirable or necessary. Moreover, otherdiameter sleeves are available to accommodate barrels of different size.While a sleeve of soft rubber was used in the specific example, it isclear that other resilient material having a comparable hardness, suchas neoprene or butyl, could be used if desired. Additionally, adhesiveor other means could be used, if necessary, to secure the sleeves Withinthe recesses.

Beams modified in the manner indicated above have been used verysuccessfully as a means for shipping tire yarn produced by the viscoserayon process. Upon return of a group of empty beams to the yarnmanufacturer in stacked condition with the anges overlapped, no chippingor rough barrel surfaces were found to exist. It appears thatmaintenance of these beams has been substantially reduced if notentirely eliminated and that the same may be usedV repeatedly Withoutdeleterious effects.

It is understood that the foregoing -description is for purposes ofillustration only and is not intended to limit the invention except tothe extent dened in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A shipping beam comprising an elongated cylindrical barrel, acircular flange supported by each end of the barrel and extendingradially therefrom, a metallic rim secured to the outer periphery ofeach of said anges, means defining `a peripheral recess at each end ofsaid barrel, and a soft rubber sleeve mounted under tension Within eachrecess and compressed by a respective one of said iianges, the outersurface of said sleeves' being coextensive with the outer surface ofsaid barrel.

2. A shipping beam as set forth in claim 1 wherein the inner diametersof said sleeves are slightly less than the inner diameter ofcorresponding recesses.

3. A beam comprising a cylindrical barrel, a iiange mounted at each endof the barrel and extending radially therefrom, means defining aperipheral recess in each end of the barrel, and `a sleeve of resilientmaterial mounted within each recess, the width of each sleeve beingslightly greater than the Width of ra respective recess whereby thesleeves may be secured Within the recess under compression, and theouter surface of the sleeves being coextensive with the outer surface ofthe barrel so as to form an unbroken yarn receiving surface.

References Cited in the-file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS920,611 Mosley May 4, 1909 2,363,744 Parker Nov. 28, 1944 2,468,311 TeGrotenhuis Apr. 26, 1949 2,468,985 Krotz May 3, 1949 2,599,720 PrevostJune 10, 1952 2,733,022 Grody Jan. 31, 1956 2,755,056 Hutton July 17,1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 367,780 Great Britain Feb. 17, 1932

